Cross Cultural Transition Success: Personality Variables Influencing Cross-Cultural Transitions According to the Perceptions of a Population of Third Culture Kids

Cross-cultural transitions are often difficult for individuals of any background, and are associated with such difficulties as missing friends and family, ignorance of one’s home culture, culture shock, and cultural homelessness. These issues have led researchers to seek out those factors that are common to resilient individuals. Third Culture Kids are a unique population that commonly experiences periods of adjustment and transition, and are a focus of this study. From the literature, several protective trait-based features have been identified: self-efficacy, self-esteem, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, social connectedness, ethnic identity, cross-cultural identity, emotional stability, and cultural flexibility. Using self-report survey responses from a sample of TCKs at a large, private university, it was determined that self-efficacy, agreeableness, and cultural flexibility were self-identified as important for making successful cross-cultural transitions, while ethnic identity, cross-cultural identity, and extroversion were not considered as important. Self-efficacy, social connectedness, and cultural flexibility were considered critically important, while ethnic identity and cross-culture had minimal importance. These results, though having limited generalizability, could be useful to laypeople and mental health professionals seeking to meet the needs of TCKs, and for parents seeking to raise resilient TCKs

Fracture surface analysis in composite and titanium bonding

Carbon fibers were obtained from several manufacturers. Surface treatments were performed on these fibers by anodization. The surfaces of these fibers were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and wetting force measurement. The breaking strength of these fibers was measured at 2.5 cm length. It was seen that the surface treatments reduces the strength of the fibers. It was also seen that the Hercules fibers had a higher breaking strength than the Union Carbide fibers. Fiber critical length measurements showed no difference in critical lengths between AS-4 and AU-4 fibers embedded in polysulfone. However, the fiber lengths were much shorter for the surface treated fibers. This effect could be related to increased adhesion between fiber and matrix, or it could be due to the lower breaking strength of the surface treated fiber

Characterization of DOM and Its Interactions with Invasive Quagga Mussels in Lake Michigan

Green Bay is the largest freshwater estuary in the Laurentian Great Lakes and receives disproportional terrestrial inputs. While seasonal hypoxia and the formation of “dead zones” in Green Bay have received increasing attention, there are no systematic studies on the dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its linkage to the development of hypoxia. During summer 2014, bulk dissolved organic carbon (DOC) analysis, UV-vis spectroscopy, and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) coupled with PARAFAC analysis were used to quantify the abundance, composition and source of DOM and their spatiotemporal variations in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Concentrations of DOC ranged from 202 to 571 µM-C (average = 361±73 µM-C) in June and from 279 to 610 µM-C (average = 349±64 µM-C) in August. In both months, absorption coefficient at 254 nm (a254) was strongly correlated to bulk DOC and was most abundant in the Fox River, attesting to a dominant terrestrial input. Non-chromophoric DOC comprised, on average, ~32% of the bulk DOC in June with higher terrestrial DOM and ~47% in August with higher aquagenic DOM, indicating that autochthonous and more degraded DOM is of lower optical activity. PARAFAC modeling on EEM data resulted in four major fluorescent DOM components, including two terrestrial humic-like, one aquagenic humic-like, and one protein-like component. Variations in the abundance of DOM components further supported changes in DOM sources. Mixing behavior of DOM components also indicated that while bulk DOM behaved quasi-conservatively, significant compositional changes occurred during transport from the Fox River to the open bay. Quagga mussel infestation is another issue in the Great Lakes that has caused significant changes in food web structure and ecological function over the past decade. Nevertheless, linkages between invasive species and dynamics of carbon and nutrients in Lake Michigan are less clear. We report here yields of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and nutrients from quagga mussels as well as chemical composition and size spectra of excreted DOM. Clearance rates of different sized microparticles indicate that quagga mussel ctenidial fibers can efficiently retain DOM as small as 0.5 µm. Smaller mussels have higher DOM excretion rates (0.076±0.004 µmol-C mgDW-1 d-1) compared to larger mussels (0.012±0.0002 µmol-C mgDW-1 d-1). Nitrogen excretion rate was up to 0.24±0.01 µmol-N mgDW-1 d-1, 3 times higher than dissolved organic carbon (DOC), while inorganic phosphorus excretion was only 0.0076±0.0030 µmol-P mgDW-1 d-1. Excreted DOM was mostly chromophoric and high-molecular-weight in nature with a colloidal size spectrum centered at 1-5 kDa, had a low C/N but higher N/P ratio, and was comprised of up to 78% carbohydrates with high abundance of structural polysaccharides. Fluorescence EEMs and PARAFAC analysis identified two major fluorescent DOM components: a tryptophan-like and a UVC humic-like, suggesting that excreted DOM could be potentially labile. Compared with field measurements, only ~12% of organic matter consumed by quagga mussels is excreted/egested, and the vast majority is likely respired as CO2, potentially contributing to its supersaturation in the water column and changes in carbon dynamics in Lake Michigan after the colonization of invasive quagga mussel

Surface characterization in composite and titanium bonding

The failure surface analysis of adhesively bonded carbon fiber composites is described. The emphasis is on the bonding of composites when the surface has been made intentionally resin-rich. Also discussed is surface analysis of both commercially available and pretreated carbon fibers. The interaction of the fibers with polysulfone is described

SAWS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN NASAL SURGERY.: Read in the Section of Larngology and Otology at the Forty-third Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association, held at Detroit, Mich., June, 1892.

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Is metabolism goal-directed? Investigating the validity of modeling biological systems with cybernetic control via omic data

Cybernetic models are uniquely juxtaposed to other metabolic modeling frameworks in that they describe the time-dependent regulation of cellular reactions in terms of dynamic metabolic goals. This approach contrasts starkly with purely mechanistic descriptions of metabolic regulation which seek to explain metabolic processes in high resolution — a clearly daunting undertaking. Over a span of three decades, cybernetic models have been used to predict metabolic phenomena ranging from resource consumption in mixed-substrate environments to intracellular reaction fluxes of intricate metabolic networks. While the cybernetic approach has been validated in its utility for the prediction of metabolic phenomena, its central feature, the goal-directed control strategy, has yet to be scrutinized through comparison with omic data. Ultimately, the aim of this work is to address the question Is metabolism-goal directed? through the analysis of biological data. To do so, this work investigates the idea that metabolism is goal-directed from three distinct angles. The first is to make a comparison of cybernetic models to other metabolic modeling frameworks. These mathematical formulations for intracellular chemical reaction networks range from purely mechanistic, kinetic models to linear programming approximations. Instead of comparing these frameworks directly on the basis of accuracy alone, a novel approach to systems biological model selection is developed. This approach compares models using information theoretic arguments. From this point of view, the model that compresses biological data best captures the most regularity in the data generated by a process. This framework is used to compare the flux predictions of cybernetic, constraint-based and kinetic models in several case studies. Cybernetic models, in the test cases examined, provide the most compact description of metabolic fluxes. This method of analysis can be extended to any systems biological model selection problem for the purposes of optimization and control. To further examine cybernetic control mechanisms, the second portion of this dissertation focuses on confronting cybernetic variable predictions with data that is representative of enzyme regulation. More specifically, the dynamic behavior of cybernetic variables, ui, which are representative of enzyme synthesis control are matched with gene expression data that represents the control of enzyme synthesis in cells. This comparison is made for the model system of cybernetic modeling, diauxic growth, and for prostaglandin (PG) metabolism in mammalian cells. Via analysis of these systems, a correlation between the dynamic behavior of cybernetic control variables and the true mechanisms that guide cellular regulation is discovered. Additionally, this result demonstrates potential use of cybernetic variables for the prediction of relative changes in gene expression levels. The last approach taken to test the veracity of cybernetic control is to develop a technique to mine objective functions from biological data. In this approach, returns on investment (ROIs) for various pathways are first established through simultaneous analysis of metabolite and gene expression data for a given metabolic system. Following this, the ROIs are used to determine a metabolic systems observed goal signal. Gene expression data is then mined to select genes that show expression changes that are similar to the goal signal\u27s behavior. This gene list is then analyzed to determine enriched biological pathways. In the final step, these pathways are then surveyed in the literature to establish feasible metabolic goals for the system of interest. This method is applied to analyze diauxic growth and prostaglandin systems and generates objective functions that are relevant to known properties of these metabolic networks from the literature. An enhanced understanding of metabolic goals in mammalian systems generated by this work reveals the potential utility of cybernetic modeling in new directions related to translational research. Overall, this investigation yields support of the notion of dynamic metabolic goals in cells through comparison of metabolic modeling approaches and through the analysis of omic data. From these results, a lucid argument is made for the use of goal-directed modeling approaches and a deeper understanding of the optimal nature of metabolic regulation is gained

Domain Representability and Topological Completeness

Topological completeness properties seek to generalize the definition of complete metric space to the context of topologies. Chapter 1 gives an overview of some of these properties. Chapter 2 introduces domain theory, a field originally intended for use in theoretical computer science. Finally, Chapter 3 examines how this computer-scientific notion can be employed in the study of topological completeness in the form of domain representability. The connections between domain representability and other topological completeness properties are subsequently examined

The Discovery of Quasi-Human Ichnofossils in the Glen Rose Dolomite, Paluxy River, Texas

The Paluxy River Controversy centers on the identification of certain Ichnofossils (that is, Trace Fossils) which for more than 50 years have been reported to accompany dinosaurian foot prints in the dolomite beds of the Lower Glen Rose Formation, near Forth Worth, Texas. The formation has been assigned an approximate age of 100 million years, according to its position in the Chronostratigraphic Geologic Column. The dolomite beds are separated by clay beds, making it an Ideal lithological sequence for the preservation of footprints

Cognition-Enhancing Doses of Methylphenidate Preferentially Increase Prefrontal Cortex Neuronal Responsiveness

Background Despite widespread use of low-dose psychostimulants for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the neural basis for the therapeutic actions of these drugs are not well-understood. We recently demonstrated that low-dose methylphenidate (MPH) increases catecholamine efflux preferentially within the prefrontal cortex (PFC), suggesting the PFC is a principal site of action in the behavioral-calming and cognition-enhancing effects of low-dose psychostimulants. To better understand the neural mechanisms involved in the behavioral actions of low-dose stimulants, the current study examined the effects of low-dose MPH on the discharge properties of individual and ensembles of PFC neurons. Methods Extracellular activity of multiple individual PFC neurons was recorded in freely moving rats using multi-channel recording techniques. Behavioral studies identified optimal, working memory-enhancing doses of intraperitoneal MPH. The effects of these low-doses of MPH on PFC neuronal discharge properties were compared to: 1) the effects of high-dose MPH on PFC neuronal discharge; 2) the effects of low-dose MPH on neuronal discharge within the somatosensory cortex. Results Only working memory-enhancing doses of MPH increased the responsivity of individual PFC neurons and altered neuronal ensemble responses within the PFC. These effects were not observed outside the PFC (i.e. within somatosensory cortex). In contrast, high-dose MPH profoundly suppressed evoked discharge of PFC neurons. Conclusions These observations suggest that preferential enhancement of signal processing within the PFC, including alterations in the discharge properties of individual PFC neurons and PFC neuronal ensembles, underlie the behavioral/cognitive actions of low-dose psychostimulants

Narrative Case Studies Exploring Homelessness and Education

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on July 17, 2014Thesis advisor: Jennifer FriendVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 192-209)Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2014The purpose of these narrative case studies was to understand the experiences of families encountering homelessness and how children experience formal and informal education. Families experiencing homelessness were defined as groups of persons living without regular, fixed, and adequate housing. Narrative case studies on four families living in a homeless shelter in a Midwestern City were analyzed to investigate the following central research question: What themes were apparent in the perceptions and experiences of participants as reflected in their stories of being homeless as it relates to their children’s educational experience? Sub-questions included: How did the adults experiencing homelessness describe their children’s formal and informal educational experiences since becoming homeless? How did the children experiencing homelessness describe their formal and informal educational experiences since becoming homeless? How did the adults experiencing homelessness describe the events that led to homelessness, and how did these events affect the educational experiences of their children? Data were collected in the form of documents, interviews, and observations. Data were coded and narrative accounts were restoried. This information was organized and analyzed to determine the themes and patterns related to homelessness and the effects it had on the education of children. The findings of this study revealed that the families experienced a transient lifestyle and frequent school changes before coming to live at the shelter. However, once identified as homeless, the families received various educational services through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance ActAbstract -- List of tables -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Literature review -- Design and methods -- Findings -- Results -- Appendix -- Reference